The present invention is directed, in general, to automated call placement systems (ACPs) and, more specifically, to a system and method for remotely controlling the call monitoring functions performed by an ACP and an ACP incorporating the system or the method.
Inmates at correctional facilities have begun to regard access to a telephone to be a valuable privilege. Years ago, correctional facilities (prisons, jails and the like) made a few telephones available at a central location. To ensure that the inmates said nothing inappropriate, correctional officers (or, more colloquially, xe2x80x9cguardsxe2x80x9d) stood by or listened on nearby telephones to inmate conversations.
Soon, however, correctional facilities began to install ACPs with distributed telephones, perhaps with a telephone in each inmate""s cell. Denied their convenient central location, correctional officers began to be required to monitor conversations more closely. Controls (such as individual access codes) began to be put into place to ensure that only inmates who had earned the privilege were allowed access to a telephone. Correctional officers began to use dedicated call monitoring telephones to monitor conversations.
ACPs then began to be fitted with recorders, so conversations could be stored and played back at will. The earliest recorders were multiple track tape recorders wherein each track was assigned to monitor each outbound trunk line. The recorders were placed into a continuous recording mode, so that all conversations were recorded. If a particular conversation or conversations were desired to be played back or archived, each conversation on each track was required to be scanned to find the right one(s).
More sophisticated call monitoring units eventually replaced tape recorders. These units employed disk storage in lieu of tape and stored conversations in digitized form on the disks. The correctional officer could then scan through the conversations taking place at a particular time, monitor a particular one of the conversations at length and search the call monitoring unit for the particular file containing the conversation in its entirety to allow him to hear the parts of the conversation he may have missed. Unfortunately, performing these operations required a direct connection to the unit or a connection to the unit through a computer network.
Correctional facilities provide unique challenges for installers of telephone systems. Thick walls and an absence of crawlspaces make running wires difficult. Therefore, any improvement in the connections an ACP or its associated call monitoring unit requires would be advantageous. Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a way to make such ACPs and monitoring units less dependent upon special connections. Further, what is needed in the art is more flexibility in the way conversations can be monitored and recorded.
To address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, the present invention provides a system and method for remotely controlling the call monitoring functions performed by an automated call placement system (ACP) and an ACP incorporating the system or the method. In one embodiment, the system includes: (1) a controller, coupled to the call monitoring unit and having a single wire pair interface, that transmits traffic carried on the selected one of the lines via the interface, transmits function menus via the interface, receives in-band control commands via the interface and controls functions of the call monitoring unit in response thereto and (2) an in-band data-capable device having a display, coupled to the interface via a single wire pair, that receives and audibly reproduces the traffic, displays the function menus on the display and transmits the in-band control commands to the controller thereby to control the call monitoring unit.
The present invention therefore introduces the broad concept of allowing an ACP to be remotely controlled via a single wire pair. This offers substantial utility by greatly increasing the number of locations at which remote control can be effected. Any location within the correctional facility wired for conventional telephone service becomes a possible remote location. Furthermore, any offsite location reachable by a computer network, the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or a combination of the two becomes a candidate location.
In one embodiment of the present invention the in-band control commands are ADSI control commands and the device is an ADSI device. Those skilled in the art are familiar with the ADSI protocol. ADSI offers two advantages. First and foremost, it does not require an extra pair of wires; so, a single wire pair can support user traffic and ADSI-encapsulated information and commands. Second, it is a recognized standard with which an ever-increasing number of telephones comply. The present invention is therefore not limited to a particular ADSI-compliant telephone manufacturer. Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to ADSI, and can operate with any conventional or later-discovered single-wire-pair-capable command protocol.
For purposes of the present invention, xe2x80x9cin-bandxe2x80x9d is to be construed broadly as meaning xe2x80x9calong with user traffic.xe2x80x9d In the digital domain, xe2x80x9cin-bandxe2x80x9d means in the same channel. In the analog domain, xe2x80x9cin-bandxe2x80x9d means over the same wire-pair. Commands may be transmitted at frequencies over or under those of user traffic, or may be interspersed into the user traffic during times of silence (as is the case with ADSI). The present invention does not limit the manner in which in-band signaling takes place.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the display is a liquid crystal display (LCD). All currently commercially available ADSI telephones come with LCD screens upon which information transmitted in accordance with the ADSI standard may be displayed. Such display may be telephone line-powered, but is most often powered by a separate source. The present invention is not limited, however, to a particular display type, size or configuration.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the device comprises buttons and the function menus associate the buttons with the in-band control commands. These software-configurable, or xe2x80x9csoftxe2x80x9d buttons are employable to convey menu selections to the controller of the present invention. Of course, the buttons may be xe2x80x9chard-wiredxe2x80x9d to provide a given function and therefore not programmable.
In one embodiment of the present invention, at least one of a computer network and a public switched telephone network are interposed between said controller and said device. The computer network may be, for example, the Internet. Thus, the device may be quite remote from the controller, allowing multiple correctional facilities to be monitored from a central monitoring site. This may be particularly advantageous when foreign language interpretation is required.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the function menus comprise a scanning mode menu including a choice selected from the group consisting of: (1) silent seek, (2) voice scan, (3) monitor and (4) save. Those skilled in the pertinent art will understand, however, that other menu choices and corresponding modes (such as barge in and disconnect) are within the broad scope of the present invention.
The device may also function as a PBX line extension off of the ACD, where the device can originate a call into the ACD to any one of the lines connected to the ACD, such as inmate telephone lines, external PSTN circuits or other devices as may be advantageous. The device may thus be able to support conferencing, wherein a correctional officer or other monitoring individual may desire to place a call with the device to another PBX extension or another telephone via the PSTN or computer network.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the function menus comprise a replay menu including a choice selected from the group consisting of: (1) play, (2) stop, (3) pause, (4) restart, (5) skip backward and (6) skip forward. Those skilled in the art will recognize these choices as being advantageous in replaying a particular recorded conversation. The present invention is not, however, limited to these choices.
The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, preferred and alternative features of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.